When Should You Actually Disavow Backlinks?

If you’ve ever run a backlink audit in (insert your SEO tool of choice}, you’ve probably seen a wall of “toxic” links from websites you’ve never heard of. Panic would have then lead you down the rabbit hole of Google's disavow tool. Before you reach for the tool, ask a better question: do I actually need to disavow? Spoiler: probably not.

What does Google say?

Google’s official guidelines say that most sites will never need the disavow tool. It states you should use it only if you have a considerable number of spammy/artificial links and they caused (or are likely to cause) a manual action.

Google also states that it

….works very hard to make sure that actions on third‑party sites do not negatively affect a website.

*Source: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487?hl=en*

This means that those random junk links usually get ignored.

Google has introduced link‑spam systems, like SpamBrain, that are designed to neutralise manipulative links. They detect both sites buying links and sites created to pass link equity.

When should you actually disavow backlinks?

• Manual actions from Google. If Search Console flags “Unnatural links,” Google has found manipulation affecting trust. That’s the clearest signal to act.

• Past SEO sins. Links you paid for, swapped, or scaled (private blog networks, advertorials without rel="sponsored") are liabilities even without a penalty.

• Negative SEO attacks. A sudden surge of spammy domains and measurable ranking/traffic wobble indicates a real issue. The key here is the ranking/traffic wobble.

When should you not disavow backlinks?

• “Toxic” links identified from SEO tools. I’m looking at you Semrush. Google’s John Mueller has repeatedly said the concept of toxic links as used by tools is made‑up and disavowing random links those tools flag is a waste of time.

• Low authority / foreign‑language domains / links you didn’t build. None of these are disavow criteria by themselves.

What counts as risky link building behaviour?

Google treats the following as link spam when used to manipulate rankings: buying/selling links that pass PageRank (including advertorials without rel="sponsored"), excessive link exchanges, automated link creation, link‑stuffed guest posts/press releases, low‑quality directories, widget/footer/forum spam, and large‑scale low‑value content made just to drop links.

A safe, simple disavow workflow

1. Collect evidence. Export backlinks from Search Console (plus your favourite SEO tool) to see what Google has found.

2. Triage by patterns, not tool scores. Flag links that match Google’s link‑spam examples (paid links without proper attributes, obvious PBNs, mass directory blasts, etc.).

3. Request removals first. Email site owners, remove anything you control (old guest posts, profiles), and keep a record of attempts. This is useful for reconsideration.

4. Build a precise disavow file (only for what you can’t remove and what clearly violates policy):

   # Disavow file for example.com (2025-09-29)
   # Paid guest post network we used in 2019:
   domain:shadyseo.com
   domain:another-pbn.example
   # Individual spam pages
   <http://spam.example.com/stuff/paid-links.html>

   File rules: one URL/domain per line; use domain: to cover a domain or subdomain; UTF‑8 .txt; up to ~100k lines/2MB; comments start with #.

5. Upload carefully. The disavow list is per property (URL‑prefix), not supported for Domain properties. If you have http/https or www/non‑www variants, upload to each relevant property. Processing can take a few weeks as Google recrawls.

6. Monitor & close the loop. Watch the Manual actions report and performance. If you had a manual action, submit a reconsideration request detailing the fixes and prevention steps.

Some rules to live by

• Stable rankings/traffic + no manual action? Do nothing. Monitor.

• Manual action present? Clean up, disavow what remains, submit reconsideration.

• You knowingly built manipulative links? Remove/disavow them proactively.

• Spam barrage + traffic/ranking volatility? Document, remove what you can, then disavow. Keep the perspective that Google is good at ignoring garbage.

Final thoughts

In 2025 Backlinks still matter but over‑managing them doesn’t. If you’re not under a manual action and haven’t engineered your link profile, you likely don’t need to touch the disavow tool. Spend that time earning links worth keeping.

Sources

• https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487?hl=en

• https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies

• https://searchengineland.com/google-releases-december-2022-link-spam-update-390336

• https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-disavowing-random-links-flagged-by-tools/472891/

• https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044175

• https://www.seroundtable.com/google-again-blasts-the-concept-of-toxic-links-37453.html